Firewire external drive and MacBook Air

Is it possible to access the data on a firewire drive which has data from a 2000 iMac , and use it on a USB equipped MacBook Air?

Which model MBA? Does it have a Thunderbolt port? You could get a FireWire to Thunderbolt cable/adapter.

ferrarr said:

Which model MBA? Does it have a Thunderbolt port? You could get a FireWire to Thunderbolt cable/adapter.

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Thanks for your reply - it is a 2013 Air - only two USB sockets, and you can buy a Firewire to USB adapter device but would this be plug and play as the shop on eBay says it is?.And what difference is there between IEEE1394 and FAT 32. Am I right in assuming that my year 2000 Seagate firewire hard drive is FAT32? It is apparent that the sockets for FAT32 and IEEE1394 look the same, but looks can be deceptive. I do not want to reformat the Seagate, because I want to transfer the data from it to my Air. Cheers Jack

Can you link to the specific device you are referencing? As far as IEEE1394 and FAT32, IEEE1394 is referencing FireWire, and FAT32 is a drive formatting option. Also, your FireWire drive format, depends on what computer OS it was being used with. Back in 2000, FAT32 would have been the most common to be used with Windows OS, and Mac OS X.

How big is the drive (MB or GB), is it AC powered (plugs in) or bus powered, what maker and model is it?

You could try the adapter, I have never used one of those, because I didn't know they were made. I don't know for sure if the MBA will see it when it is plugged in.

Thank you for your info Ferrar - much appreciated. I should have realised that FAT32 was formatting standard - but in marketing the Firewire adapter, this is mentioned -The device you want to know about , would that be the laptop or the seagate External? Either way it is really the principle of the process I am doubtful about - the Air is 13 inch, 1.7 GHz, the Seagate has no model name on it - capacity 700Gb, AC - and 240V-(we're in GB) physical size about 7 by 7 by 3 inches - old technology, the iMac it is used on at the mo is a graphite, and shows faults and will hit the scrapheap anytime soon, just have to backup before it is cleaned. ( My Blueberry has the same destination, of 1996 vintage, also firewire endowed. ) At about three GBP, the adapter will not break the bank, although I have asked the seller if he knows it will work, but not holding my breath that he will know the answer.

It may possible to move the drive into a usb 3.0 enclosure for connection to a MBA.

It's the external drive a 3.5" or 2.5" drive? The internal drive could be sata which makes things a lot easier.

I'm with @Audit13, to try to get the drive out of the enclosure and onto an adapter. They make this adapter, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RSSGYD4/?tag=macforums0e4-20, which "should" work with the bare drive inside your enclosure.

hello again - I have now tried the adapter - female adapter firewire to USB, and the powered external firewire drive/s either Seagate 700gb, or Lacie 40GB are not visible on my Air desktop. It looks like that Sierra 10.12.6 is not recognising a drive that works with an older iMac running an OSX version10.3.9. Any suggestions how to get round this?

It could be that the firewire to usb adapter is not compatible with the Macbook or its defective?

Hi there - thanks for your reply - both suggestions are feasible - the seller of the adapter never did get back to me when I asked about compatibility- he is not liable to know however - only a user would know. As for being defective - almost impossible to test - but you would think that the manufacturer is liable to get the internal connections correct, - firewire looks like three and ground in 13mm, while USB seems four and ground, in 11mm. - not too much to go wrong there - unlike say lightning 17 in 6mm, and HDMI 21 in 14mm, not counting mini HDMI - must be the same 21 in about 8mm. And the producers have machines which churn these out in a Chinese factory, reliably or so it seems, and " ten a penny " as the old saying goes. On reflection, it is probable that Sierra needs an update to connect with old technology hard drives, which have different "data packing" arrangements, and I should try Apple on the problem - who originated the systems. Cheers for now - Jack

Does the drive inside the firewire case have a sata or ide connection?

Thanks Audit 13 - I have no idea, and I reckon to open the case, could be awkward for me. I could prob get details of how to recognise the difference between data and ide. maybe that will have to be the way, but I have had an Apple chat a short time ago - got a phone number for a senior adviser later on tonight - in UK, who should know how to get around this. Cheers Jack

Does the casing have a model number on the casing? Do you have access to a Mac that does recognise the drive?

The issue is the adapter, Macs will not see a FireWire device connected with a USB adapter.

Hi there - Thanks for your reply - I did suspect that could be the case, and I did try a chat with Apple yesterday to get their advice, but ran out of time. There could be a way - going to keep trying. Jack

Hi there - Thanks for your reply - I did suspect that could be the case, and I did try a chat with Apple yesterday to get their advice, but ran out of time. There could be a way - going to keep trying. Jack

Hi again - just to finalise this - the Apple adviser has advised buying the Firewire- Lightning adapter from Apple - have done, but not the whole solution - there are two firewire sockets 800/400 and IEEE1394b - 9 pin and 6 pin. and the Apple one needs to get a Belkin firewall 6 to 9 pin adapter as well, then all should work fine. So thanks for your interest and advice. Jack

I didn't think your MBA had a lightning, or is it Thunderblot port? Lightning is with iPhone iPad devices.

That is why we are saying to put the drive into another enclosure.

How many gb of data do you need to transfer? Wouldn't it be easier to get a flash/USB/thumb drive and transfer the files that way?

Hi Ferrar - bit of brain fade - I meant Thunderbolt port - the 2013 is either a T 1 or 2 - modern new Airs have the T3 and no USB ports. Apple sell the Belkin adapter for 24.95 on 3 days delivery - and online bought for 9.99 with same 3days delivery.
Transferring about 600Gb of files ( from EHD )by flash drives - not easy - two of my -small though -flash drives are out with friends - pretty long term it seems - iMac no spare space. And if I bring the old EHD into service, it can be used long term for video storage by the MBA.
Thanks again for your interest in my problem Jack